[GMAN]

I prefer operating within a corporate structure. The main reason lawyers can pierce the corporate veil is the intermingling of corporate and personal assets. It doesn't matter whether you have an LLC or corporation if someone wants to sue you they will. While the limited protections are a consideration, the tax benefits are more important to me. Every situation is different. I suggest you check with either a lawyer or CPA to advise you about your situation. By the way, you don't need an attorney to set up a corporation or LLC for you. Most states have standard forms you can use. That is all the attorney's do. The difference is that they will often retype the wording rather than use the state forms so you aren't aware that is what they are doing. I have set up several corporations. All were just as legal as if I had paid $1,000 or more for a lawyer to do it for me.

[person]

Case senario -
You are in your 4 wheeler. You do BIG time damage to someones life. Their lawyer gets the court to say that they get more than you are insured for, (b/c that's how it works now days.) If they think you have something, they go after it. In this case they cannot go after your LLC. If you didn't have the LLC they would be more inclined to go after you b/c they would think that you had more stuff to get , - like your truck and your trucking bank account.

Another senario would be that you or your spouse or minor child is found guilty of maiming someone(edited to say- if the incident occured outside of your business), or now days doing anything against them at all, and your liability is high. Once again you still have your livelyhood. In this sue happy world, people may want stuff like your equipment seeing dollar signs when they observe that you have a business.

[person]

And you can expand with this LLC. If your spouse wants to open up a daycare or a boutique or a bank, you can add this operation. And it is all under the same protection, should it become an asset. ( I really don't know banking law. Just made that up.)

These examples are about states that have "good" LLC laws. I have no idea how bad they can get in certain states.

[slacker]

I believe if you consult an attorney you'll find that unless "gross negligence" is proven, which is very difficult to prove unless you have violated DOT rules or are violating some other statute ie. speeding, wreckless driving, or talking on a cell phone (which really makes me mad when I see drivers do that with one hand stuck in their ear), an employee cannot be held responsible, but only the company or its insurance company.

One of the first things the attorneys will do is subpeona your cell phone records to see if you were on the phone, and if you were, you'll have a difficult time defending yourself as not being negligent. You not only can be found liable in civil court, but very may well be prosecuted in criminal court. Forget the money, you could lose your license and your freedom.

I believe a law abiding driver really has nothing to worry about if they are compliant with all regulations and can substatiate it.

Bottom line is, an LLC is nothing more than a sole proprietorship wrapped in a corporate shell, and gives the same legal protection as a corporation.

If the truck operated by an LLC hits somebody, that is who they're going to look at, that LLC. When was the last time you heard of any employee of a corporation held responsible unless there was fraud or negilgence???

It just doesn't happen. If it did, the whole corporate shell would unravel in about 5 minutes and many risky businesses would cease to exist.

Remember, corporations were designed by the rich to protect their money, the tax benefits are secondary.

my three cents worth.

[person]

If the truck operated by an LLC hits somebody, that is who they're going to look at, that LLC. When was the last time you heard of any employee of a corporation held responsible unless there was fraud or negilgence???

I hope you can substantiate this. This would be great news. Is there ALWAYS gross negligence? Like when a teacher does something and the principal and school district gets sued along with the teacher. Or when a MD at a corporate hospital gets sued it seems I guess that they sue the dept. head and the hospital too. It seems every law suit that I've ever heard of had many people attached to it, each getting personally sued.

[no_worries]

There are sources all over, including the aforementioned Nolo.com, stating the exceptions to asset protection provided by LLC's and corps. Here is one that I think most directly addresses the exposure that a one-truck O/O is likely to face:

There are some tort exceptions to limited liability that would negate carefully constructed asset protection plans and expose an owner to unlimited personal liability.

Under tort or personal injury law, if an individual personally commits a tort, that person is liable to the injured party. This is true irrespective of whether the individual was acting as an agent for another party at the time he or she committed a tort. Of course, if the individual was acting as an agent, the principal (business) would automatically be liable as well.

Consistent with this general rule, if the small business owner commits a tort while acting as an agent for his limited liability company (LLC) or corporation, the owner is liable to the injured party. The fact that his LLC or corporation also will be liable is not relevant to the owner's personal liability.

Many states codify this exception in their statutes governing professional corporations (PCs). All states incorporate this exception into their statutes that govern professionals (doctors, lawyers, architects, electricians, etc.) operating in the form of LLCs (or limited liability partnerships). Even when the provision is not statutory, however, the rule is universally applied by the courts, as a matter of common law.

This exception can be encountered even in a business that sells goods and provides no services. This is especially true in a business that involves risk of injury to the customer (e.g., operation of a lumberyard). An owner who personally stacks the store shelves or loads a customer's car in a careless manner will have personal liability for his negligence. An auto accident caused by the owner of the business represents another commonly encountered example of this exception. This, of course, can occur in almost any business.

Nevertheless, this exception to limited liability will represent perhaps the most significant exposure to liability for the small business owner who operates a personal service business.

By the way, as is taught in all 1L classes, gross negligence is not necessary to find somebody liable in tort cases. Negligence is all that needs to be proven and only by a preponderance of the evidence. A much lower standard than in a criminal case. By virtue of the fact that we are considered "professional drivers" we can be held to a much higher standard than the general motoring public. As a result, in most accidents involving trucks, the driver can be found responsible to some degree. The first thing most driver training courses tell you is that if you're in an accident, it's your fault. While that's not entirely accurate, it's not far off.

[4GIVEN]

Basically its just me, but my wife is going to be taken care of all the paperwork and stuff. I just bought a 99' international 9200i and im leasing on with triple crown. I currently drive for fed ex national. Hopefully I will be ok for a while until I learn the ropes. Thanks for all the replies Everything helps!!